Votes for 16 and 17 year olds – What are your views?

The Welsh Government is consulting on proposed changes to local government elections in Wales.

The proposals are designed to make it easier to vote and easier to be entitled to vote. If enacted, they would amount to the biggest change to the Welsh electoral system since 1970 – when the voting age was lowered to 18.

Under proposals set out in the consultation, 16 and 17 year olds in Wales would be given the right to vote in council elections – under powers transferred to the National Assembly for Wales under the Wales Act.

Different options to make it easier for people to vote and modernising the voting system are also laid out in the consultation. These include electronic voting at polling stations and remotely, mobile polling stations and voting at places other than polling stations such as supermarkets, local libraries, leisure centres and railway stations.

The consultation also asks whether voting could take place on other days of the week rather than just Thursdays.

Changes would also be made to the voting system itself, with each council being given the option of using a First-Past-the-Post or Single Transferable Vote system. Councils would have to consult with local residents before deciding which system to use.

The consultation closes on 10th October 2017. More information can be found at
www. consultations.gov.wales/consultations/electoral-reform-local-government-wales

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